Evangelion Heroes: Shinji Inika
by Grey11893
Summary: Shinji is taken in by a group of biomechanical beings and raised on their island home. When he returns home, Gendo discovers that Shinji is more than he appears. With the Elemental Power of Lightning and a talkative kanohi, Shinji is the Toa Inika.
1. Chapter 1

**Evangelion Heroes: Shinji Inika**

Disclaimer: As wonderful as it would be to own Evangelion and Bionicle, I obviously don't so just read the story and review please.

Instead of being raised by an uncle or teacher, Shinji is taken in by a group of biomechanical beings and raised on their island home. When he returns home, Gendo discovers that his scenario might be in danger, as Shinji is VERY different from what he should be and a lot more powerful…

**Chapter 1: Home again**

{Tokyo-3, just the way I left it} Shinji thought with a smile as he looked at the bench where he had sat, just 10 years ago. On that day he had been crying his eyes out, his father had abandoned him and the uncle that was meant to collect him never came. Thankfully two people did find him, and they made him part of a family, a _real_ family.

{'We just gonna stare at a piece of wood all day or are we gonna see what that lady wants with you?'}

'Sorry Iden, zoned out I guess' Shinji apologised, apparently speaking to no one in particular, 'Best just to see what my father wants and be done with it.'

{'Meh, take your time here, maybe there's something to fight!'}

Shinji put on a displeased face and replied, 'Hey that's not something to be excited about.'

{'Come on I was only kidding'}

'Yeah, well the last time you said that we ended up going against a bunch of Veruks all by ourselves!'

{'Oh come on it was fun, besides the other Toa arrived to help us anyway'}

Shaking his head and deciding to not remark on his disembodied friends' ideas, he grabbed his backpack and began to move for the pay phone.

{'It wasn't so deserted 3 years ago was it?'}

That sentence caused Shinji to remember that moment. He had come back to Earth for his annual visit to his mothers' grave, unfortunately his father had set up a trap to capture him for some incomprehensible reason (he couldn't understand why the man who had abandoned him was springing traps left, right and centre every time he came back to earth), he was lucky to pay his respects to his mother and not reveal his…unusual abilities to the Section 2 agents. That being said, him and Iden agreed that it was too dangerous for them to come back, so his brothers and sisters agreed to come over and grab whatever he needed. Last time it had been a letter from his father (how they had been able to get it was beyond Shinji) with a single word: come. Also attached was a picture of the woman who was meant to be picking him up, "a very gifted woman" as his brother, Arconn, had said.

{'Ah hem'}

'Oops sorry, zoned out again'

{'Mata Nui, is this gonna happen all the time here?'}

'Sorry, it's just that…' Shinji was cut off when he saw a girl, a teenager like himself in a school uniform, standing in the distance with blue hair.

Before he could call out to her and question the absence of people, a flock of birds caused him to turn the other way, when he looked back he noticed that the girl was gone.

{'Lujaka said to never take your eyes off an opponent!'}

'Wha…she wasn't an opponent Iden! Look just be quiet for awhile or float around town or something' said Shinji, who was getting annoyed with his talkative Kanohi.

Taking the phone in his hand he attempted to dial the numbers, but all he got was silence in return.

'Huh, the lines must be down or something'

Suddenly a pair jets flew over head, giving whatever unseen target that was in their sights all they had.

'Oh please tell me that Iden did not jinx me again' groaned Shinji as he ran in the direction the jets had gone. Which he now wished he hadn't, because the target they where facing was a lot larger than he was.

The monstrosity was swatting the jets away as if they were flies, and nothing seemed to be causing it any damage.

'Oh man' Shinji wracked his brains to try and figure out how to fight it, by himself he stood 0 chance of beating it, if only the others where here then they might be able to break its ankle or something at least.

In the nick of time a car stopped (too close for Shinji's taste) right in front of him. A purple haired woman opened the passenger seat and yelled for him to get in. Not wanting to get stood on, he was more than happy to oblige, before he even closed the door the woman sped off.

Now Shinji was busy thinking he would have more chance surviving a battle with the giant than with this woman's driving.

'You're Ikari, Shinji right?' the woman asked.

'That must mean you are Miss Katsuragi.' Shinji said when he realized that this was the woman on the picture, 'Thanks for the save'

'No problem, and Misato is fine, Miss Katsuragi makes me feel old' she said with a smile, 'There's a manual in the glove compartment I would suggest reading it on the way.'

'Uh, is now really the time for reading?'

'Well, you're gonna have to read it if you want… OH CRAP! GET DOWN!' she screamed as she encircled him with her arms.

A bomb suddenly went off in the distance, the shockwave made the car roll around, but miraculously they where both unharmed.

'Misato are you alright?'

'Yeah, fine'

They both crawled out of the overturned car and looked at the damaged vehicle.

'Oh no I still had 32 payments left!' cried Misato, mortified at the damage her car now had.

'Uh shouldn't we be more concerned with the giant monster?' Shinji asked, while questioning Misato's sanity.

'If we don't have a car we don't have a way to the Geofront' with a sigh, Misato moved towards the car and started to try and turn it the right way up, 'little help please.'

Moving towards the car Shinji did his best to make it look as much of a mission to turn the car as possible. The car fell down onto its tyres, its last side view mirror breaking off, causing Misato to groan.

'You're stronger than you look Shinji-kun'

With a blush now appearing on his face, he muttered a thank you and then they both hopped into the car. Try as she might Misato could not get the car to start; popping the hood she moved to the car's engine and muttered something about the battery being dead.

'Misato there's a supply store just down there' he said, pointing towards it, 'I'll see if I can do something to get it to start while you grab something to repair the car in case I can't'

'Well if you can do something go ahead, can't damage the car anymore I guess' she said making her way towards the store.

Standing in front of the car's insides, he placed his hand on the battery letting loose a small arc of crimson electricity, which caused the car to roar back to life.

'Wow, strong and smart huh, Shinji you're the best!' Misato said, upon returning from the store and finding her car injured, but alive at least.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Finally reaching the Geofront Shinji gaped at it in amazement, even Iden came back from his little trip to admire it.

{'Wow'} exclaimed the amazed kanohi.

'No time for that Shinji-kun' Misato said, as she led him towards the entrance.

'Is this where my father has been working?' Shinji asked, as they walked through the maze that was the inside of the Geofront.

'Yeah, didn't you know that?' she asked.

'We're…not on the best of terms' Shinji answered softly, suddenly going silent.

{A bit like I was} Misato thought.

{"Clearing his throat" (although it was actually impossible for him to do so, he still managed to produce the noise) 'This is taking too long. I'm gonna have a look around, see ya in a bit'} said Iden, leaving abruptly, not entirely out of impatience, but because he knew Shinji needed to prepare himself before he met his father again.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

After going around in circles and Shinji questioning Misato's sense of direction for an extended period of time, they finally found someone (or more accurately someone found them).

'Having fun Major?' came a voice just behind them.

'Oh, hey Rits we just got a little lost that's all' Misato replied sheepishly.

Arching an eyebrow at Misato's excuse, but deciding not to annoy her any further, Shinji instead chose to greet the person who found them, holding his fist in front of him out of habit.

The swimsuit clad Doctor arched her eyebrow at this, 'So, this is Shinji Ikari I presume?'

Realising his mistake, he quickly put his hand next to his side, 'Yes, a pleasure to meet you Miss…?'

'Akagi, and it's doctor actually' she replied.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

After being led through the labyrinth by the more experienced doctor, they finally reached the command centre, and Shinji came face to face with something that he had long forgotten, but it still filled him with dread to look at it.

'Is that what my father has been working on?' Shinji asked as he stared at the purple giant.

'Correct, and I need you to pilot it for me' came a voice from above.

'Wait, what!' came Shinji's surprised response when he realized that the voice came from his father.

Regarding him with a cold glare Gendo Ikari continued, 'If you do not accept then we will simply use the First.'

'Wait, Commander Rei can't pilot, she's injured and how would Shinji be able to pilot?' asked the surprised Major.

'He is the Third Child' stated Gendo, who was growing impatient (not visibly though).

'So, you just called me here to be a guinea pig for your little experiment?' shouted an enraged Shinji.

'Fuyutsuki, the spare is useless send in the First'

'But wouldn't her injuries make it…' began the second in command.

'So long as she is alive she can be of use' was his cruel answer.

Before Shinji could even say a word, the girl that he had seen earlier that day was wheeled in on a gurney. Shinji was horrified to think that his father would let this girl pilot some robot; she was injured so badly that the bandages made her appear like a mummy, not even he had ever been so wounded in his lifetime and he had gone up against creatures that no human being (besides himself) had ever seen!

'Are you insane, she can't…' began Shinji, but he was cut off by an earthquake of some kind that broke the ceiling and sent debris falling right above the girl.

Shinji moved faster than was humanly possible to get the girl out of the way, grabbing her and protecting her with his body. When he found that he was not crushed by rubble, he looked up to see a large purple hand above his head.

'The Evangelion moved by itself! But that's impossible!' said an astonished Ritsuko.

Still cradling the girl in his arms, he looked into her crimson eyes and saw the pain that she was suffering. Coming to a decision he put her back on the gurney, gently and then turned to face his father.

'I'll do it' was all he said.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

{'Mata Nui, Shinji! I can't believe you left my kanohi in that place! It took me forever to find you again.'} Said a peeved Iden, {'and what is that foul substance you're sitting in?'}.

'I'm sorry Iden. I tried to get them to let me take my backpack but they said something about interference and it's called LCL, it's meant to allow me to use the Eva better or something like that' Shinji explained to his disembodied friend.

['Uh, Shinji who are you talking to?'] Misato inquired over the radio, now worried that the crash course on piloting the Eva had driven the boy insane.

'Yah, uh nobody, it's nothing' was Shinji's rushed reply, embarrassed that he had been caught talking to Iden, whom they could not see or hear.

['Right, well the angel is just ahead of you good luck']

{'So, they dumped you in this robot and told you to just go crazy on that giant, huh?'}

Shinji replied with a small nod, as he could not speak openly without being deemed insane.

{'Well, then lets show 'em what we're made of!'}

Shinji then willed the Eva to dash at the angel. Before he spear tackled it, he took in its features, it had bones that jutted out on top of its torso and shoulders and a beak like face. Upon his spear tackles success Shinji then punched its face again and again. In its defence it grabbed the Eva's arm and Shinji felt as if something had impaled his arm. Screaming in pain, the Eva fell onto its back, gripping its arm as Shinji gripped his.

'ARGH! What happened?'

['It's your synch ratio, the higher it is the more you experience what the Eva experiences'] Dr. Akagi answered.

{I thought a high ratio was a good thing!} He thought.

The angel then blasted Shinji with a cross shaped energy beam that sent him flying back.

{'Doesn't this thing have any weapons?'} Iden asked, concerned for Shinji's safety and his own.

Shinji relayed Iden's question to the command centre who responded that there was a progressive weapon in his left shoulder pylon.

{'This should be interesting!'}

Shinji then willed his Eva to retrieve the weapon and held it in front of him, what he saw was not as encouraging as he thought it would be.

{'…Or not. Do they expect us to poke this thing to death or something?'}

Before Shinji could reply, the angel attempted to impale him with the spikes that protruded from its hands. Dodging it by spinning around, he then stabbed the angel in its arm. It reeled back, howling in rage, and attempted to hit him with another cross blast, but Shinji weaved his Eva out of the way and stabbed the red jewel in its chest. Sparks flew out as the knife proved to be a lot more effective than Iden gave it credit for.

['That's it Shinji! Keep pushing the knife into its core!'] Misato encouraged him, amazed that he knew to go for the core without prior knowledge of its importance to the angel.

Before death could claim it, the angel self-destructed hoping to take its murderer to be with it.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Smoke and fires billowed from where the Eva and its enemy had been only moments before.

['Shinji? Shinji, are you there?']

Misato was growing worried. Shinji wasn't answering their calls and the cameras could not pick up his Eva, there was just too much smoke.

Just when all hope was lost the figure of Eva Unit 01 appeared, trudging through the smoke, victorious.

'Yeah, I'm fine Misato' replied Shinji, who did not sound at all fine, because now he had broken a sacred code that he had taken when he received his powers, the code to not kill another sentient being.

*End Chapter 1*

Well there's the first chapter (anybody who's reading, yes YOU). So if you don't mind dropping a review or a few hints, tips anything that will fuel my ego, please just do so, you don't even need to ask, Just Do It.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: True Calling**

'Yee HAW!' shouted Misato at the top of her lungs, as she downed her Yebisu beer.

Shinji paid no attention to Misato's antics; he was still depressed over killing the angel. Since he first gained his status as a Toa, the first thing he had been taught was to never, under any circumstances, take another sentient beings life. Now that he had broken that code, what would his brothers and sisters think of him? Although, the worst thing was that after he had killed the angel Iden had left him without a word. It was like his father rejecting him all over again.

-Flashback-

'But…but father I don't want to stay with him, I wanna stay with you!' pleaded a four year old, frightened Shinji.

'I have no use for you' his father replied coldly and walked off leaving Shinji alone with bags far too heavy for him to carry.

Overcome with emotion caused by his fathers' rejection and his mothers' recent death Shinji fell to the ground and cried.

Several hours later Shinji sat on the bench next to his bags waiting for an uncle who would never come.

Now thinking that he was so useless that his uncle did not even want him, he began to cry once more.

Meanwhile, a short distance from Shinji two human looking people where walking about. One was a teenage girl with blonde hair and deep blue eyes, who was catching the attention of many male teenagers, the other had snow white hair and light blue eyes who was currently using his unique looks to grab the attention of many girls in the area.

But the blonde one heard the sobbing and walked towards the source. She found Shinji with his down crying his eyes out.

'What's wrong little one?' Shinji heard a soft, caring voice ask, sniffing and wiping the tears from his face he looked at the person standing above him, who regarded him with a concerned smile. She then knelt down to Shinji's level and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Seeing that she was sincere and genuinely concerned about him, Shinji poured his heart out to her, telling her how his mother had died, his father had left him and that there was no one who wanted to take care of him, relaying all this made him cry once again.

Pulling the little child into a hug, letting him cry onto her shoulder, she sang a soft song for him, in a language that he could not understand, but it still soothed him enough to make him stop.

'If you want I could take care of you' she said, 'my village has more than enough space.'

'You would?' asked Shinji, still sniffing and amazed that some stranger would be willing to take him.

'Of course' she replied with a smile, 'come on I'm sure you're hungry lets get something to eat and then I'll show you my village, by the way what's your name?'

'Shinji Ikari'

'Mine's Tuuran'

-End Flash back-

The memory still brought a smile to his face, Tuuran had gotten in trouble with the others for bringing him, but she never regretted it, how he wished she was here. Whenever he needed someone to talk to she was always there to help him.

With a sigh Shinji continued on with his cooking, as he had recently discovered Misato only cooked to kill. It's a good thing that he had taken all of his mothers old cook books with him when he went to stay with Tuuran, otherwise it would be instant ramen all the time, Shinji shivered, {that was a scary thought}.

Feeling homesick once again, at the thought of him and Tuuran learning to cook, Shinji's dark mood returned with a vengeance.

A knock on the door broke the dark thoughts for a moment, 'I'll get it' he said with a sad voice.

As Shinji moved to open the door, Misato looked at her young ward with a pained expression, he looked as if he hadn't had a good nights sleep for the past week (which Shinji hadn't, ever since he defeated the angel), she was beginning to worry that he might even try to hurt himself if he continued his downward spiral, but she noticed his mood improved at an incredible pace when he opened the door to a very pretty young blonde girl.

'Tuuran!' exclaimed Shinji in surprise and disbelief.

'Hey, Shinji', she answered hugging the surprised boy; 'you wanna go grab something to eat?'

'Can I Misato?' he asked.

Seeing the effect that the young girl had on Shinji, and not wanting to send him back into his depressive state she answered with a sly smile, 'Sure Shinji-kun, just remember that there you two are underage, so don't do anything you two will regret!'

'Ugh, Misato!' he cried out in embarrassment, and horror that his guardian would actually say something like that in front of company.

With a laugh, Tuuran took Shinji's hand and led him out of the apartment and into the streets of Tokyo-3.

'So how have you been, brother?'

'Well, I'm better now that you're here'

'Does this have to do with that monster you had to fight a while back?'

'How…how did you know about that?'

'Iden came and told me, he knew how you would take it'

Shinji cast his head down in shame, all this time he had thought Iden had left him because he was disgusted by what Shinji did.

As if reading his thoughts, Tuuran put a hand on Shinji's shoulder, 'Didn't we talk about all this negative thinking?'

'I'm sorry'

'Don't worry Shinji I understand, but you do need to think a bit more of yourself you know? It's not healthy, dwelling on all the bad things that you think could happen.'

'Tuuran, I did do a bad thing I broke the code! I…I killed something!' he cried out, staring at the ground not wanting to look at her face.

Pulling him into another hug, she said, 'Shinji, there was no other choice, Iden found out a lot about those "angels" and said that if you hadn't done that the entire earth would be in ruins.'

'Shinji, you did what you had to do, that's what makes you a hero' she said, 'and don't ever think any different.'

'Okay' he said, with a sigh feeling the weight of the world lift off him.

'Come on I'm starving!' said Tuuran, with the face of an excited child as she led him to a burger joint.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Having returned home rather late (it had actually begun to get dark), Shinji carefully opened the Major's door and found her asleep on the table with a beer still clutched in her hand, snoring rather loudly.

With a smile, Shinji carefully lifted Misato from her chair and moved her to her bed, putting her down gently.

Moving back to his room, he grabbed his backpack and unzipped it, revealing a crimson mask with a black stripe travelling down the middle.

'Sure took you long enough!' said a tired looking Iden, the mask relaying his facial expression, 'while you where off stuffing yourself I had to fend off some horrific Rahi!'

'Pen-pen? He's just a penguin, he might be odd, but he's no danger to anyone' said an amused Shinji, 'by the way thanks for telling Tuuran what happened…I needed someone to talk to.'

'No problem Shinji, being an organic Mask of Spirit, I can come and go as I please' he said with an odd smile (odd in the way that his "mouth" was essentially a hole, including his eyes), 'although, it did take her forever to use a mask that was able to see me'.

'Thanks Iden, you're a real friend'

'All right, all right let's stop talking about how great I am, otherwise we'll be here all night!' the mask said with a loud laugh.

'Shh! Misato's sleeping' Shinji hissed.

'That's the purple lady right?'

'Yes and she very kindly allowed me to stay here while I pilot the Eva'

'So wait does that mean there are more of those "angel" things?'

'Unfortunately, yeah'

'Oh yay, I can't wait' Iden replied with a roll of his eyes and a sarcastic tone.

'You where all for fighting a week ago' Shinji pointed out with narrowed eyes.

'Yeah, but I was hoping that it would be normal fighting, not giant robots and stuff'

'Okay, so you want us to go fighting in our Toa form, huh?'

'Nothing would give me greater pleasure!' replied the excited kanohi.

Placing the mask on his face, Shinji's body glowed and crimson electricity crackled around him as Shinji Ikari was soon replaced with a 6 foot, red and black biomechanical warrior, with a blue glow that shown from behind his mask.

'Wow, I feel a bit stronger on Earth than I do on Vetra Nui' exclaimed the Inika.

{'Well, the matoran universe's worlds could have a stronger gravity or maybe the Red Star is closer to earth?'} Theorized Iden.

'Well, either way I guess we'd better watch our punches.'

With that said, the Inika leapt out of his window, into the streets below.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

A woman ran screaming through the streets of the "poorer" side of Tokyo-3, three vicious gang members where gaining on her and when they caught up with her, well let's just say they weren't looking to make a nice conversation.

The poor woman, not even 25 years old, was frightened of what would happen when those three caught her. Running, adrenaline pumping through her veins, she took a wrong turn and ended up in an alleyway with no way out, but from the side she came in.

'Oh God, please no' she cried out, praying for a miracle, but ultimately knowing that no such miracle would come.

'Hey there, lady you move pretty fast' said the thinner of the three, as they caught up with her, flicking his knife about menacingly.

'Please, just take my money and go' she pleaded, throwing her handbag at their feet.

'Okay, we'll take the money and you' said the large one, who was wide, muscled and stood at least 6 foot 3, with a cruel grin.

'Hey, I get first dibs alright' said the one who wore a beanie on his head, who gripped her arm painfully tight, causing her to yelp.

She scratched him with her long nails, falling backwards as he let go of her and held his bleeding face.

'Gah! You're gonna pay for that you little…'

'Hey you three, leave her alone' said someone from behind them.

All four turned towards the voice and saw what appeared to be some sort of armoured person with a strange looking "face" and glowing blue light coming from its eyes and mouth.

'What the hell is this cosplay night?' said the skinny one.

'Yeah, go back your little conventions while the big boys have some fun' the larger one chuckled.

'I don't want to fight you, but you three are pushing your luck.'

'Pfft can you believe this guy?' the large one laughed again.

'Alright, that's it. Takeshi, take this nut job out' beanie said, beckoning the large one.

Cracking his knuckles, with a grin on his face, Takeshi said, 'Sorry 'bout this kid, but we did try to warn you.'

'No I'm sorry', said the strange "cosplayer", he let loose an arc of red electricity that hit Takeshi and sent him flying back into the wall at the back of the alleyway where he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

'What the…?' began beanie, who attempted to tackle the red and black person, who merely side stepped, grabbed the back of his shirt and tossed him aside.

The final gangster showed off his fancy tricks with his knife, trying to either threaten his attacker or reassure himself.

'Back off man, I know how to use this!'

'Hey, I have something like that' said the stranger, who pulled out a weapon (seemingly from nowhere it appeared from his back) that appeared to be some sort of staff, it had a 1 metre long, black "pole" with a sharp wicked looking blade starting from about halfway on the pole, making the weapons total length 1.5 metres.

Spinning it around he asked, 'Wanna see whose is better?'

Taking the safer course of action, the skinny one fled.

The woman stared at her saviour, taking in his odd appearance; he looked like a person who was made out of red and black armour.

Kneeling down to her, he offered his hand, which she gladly accepted, and pulled her to her feet.

'I…thank you' she said.

'No worries, only doing my duty' he answered simply, with a warm smile, 'are you going to be alright from now on, or should I help you on your way home?'

'Um, no…thank you, but I should be fine now'

'Well, if you need me just shout'

'Wait' she started, 'what's your name?'

Her saviour put on a thoughtful expression, and then almost looked like he was having some sort of internal debate, but he eventually answered her, 'Toa Inika or Inika if you don't like being formal.'

Before she could ask any more questions, the "Toa" as he called himself, leapt into the air and soon disappeared from sight.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

{'Boring! Don't any of you humans know how to fight at least?'} A bored Iden asked.

'Hey! I know how to fight' Shinji answered, not amused at Iden's generalisation.

{'Who taught you? Oh, that's right, Toa warriors!'}

'Oh, whatever Iden' shaking his head, Shinji continued on his way back to his new home, hoping that Misato wouldn't be awake when he got there.

He clambered through his open window and then removed his mask, becoming Shinji Ikari once more.

'Did you have to say that, about our staff?' Shinji asked, as he got ready for bed.

'Oh, come on! Didn't you see the look on that guys face, it was hilarious!'

Too tired to argue, Shinji just got into his bed and fell asleep.

-Chapter 2 end-

Finally! Took me awhile to finish this chapter (bit of writers block), but it's done. I will be telling Shinji's life before piloting Eva in flash backs or him talking to his other brothers or sisters (he has 6 in total). Any who, please read and review, also if you like the Fantastic 4, I have written a story with the pilots becoming the famous team, so give it a try if you want.


	3. Chapter 3

I would like to thank those who favourited this story and those who silently read it. I would also like some reviews, please! Just so that I know of any problems you guys have or whatever you want to throw at me.

**Chapter 3: Trouble in Paradise**

In a far away land, in the darkest caves that not even an Onu-matoran would dare to venture, a large and powerful creature with jet black armour and an evil looking mask, was making his way towards a large tank that contained a creature called "Rahkshi". After placing a sickly snake into the back of the creature, it roared to life and regarded its master with cruel yellow eyes.

'Go, my son, to the land of the organics and destroy the Inika.' Commanded the dark one.

The creature hissed and began to make its way towards the centre of the island, where a machine stood, powered by a mask called the "Olmak".

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

'Oh, hello you must be…Ikari, Shinji right?' asked the freckled brunette.

'Um, y…yes that's me…and you are?' asked the Shinji shyly, it had been a while since he had spoken to an actual human female his age.

'Horaki, Hikari. I'm the class representative, so it is my duty to make sure you get comfortable in the school' she said with pride, 'if you don't mind me asking, were did you go to school before?'

'I was um…home schooled' Shinji replied, it was mostly true, Tuuran and Lujaka decided that he should learn the basics of his world as well, although it took some time for them to get anywhere with it (they themselves had to learn a whole other language).

'Oh, okay. By the way it seems strange that you are joining the school now, most of our class mates have left because of the attack.'

Shinji began to suspect that she might think he was the pilot of the Eva, and he had been told to not inform his classmates under ANY circumstances, 'Well, I…was already here, but I was only able to attend school now.'

She seemed to believe his small lie, and guided him to the classroom. Telling him that school only started in 10 minutes and that he could have almost any seat, Shinji thanked her and she left.

After her departure he opened his backpack, revealing an annoyed looking kanohi, 'What took you so long? You're lucky I don't need to breath!'

'Keep it down Iden, someone could hear you!' Shinji whispered, trying to figure out just what had possessed him to bring his kanohi with.

'Alright, alright don't get your mask all…oh, right, well you get the idea' he said, remembering that most of his remarks did not apply to his organic friend.

'Why don't you have a look around the school or town, 'cos I hear it gets pretty boring here,' said Shinji, hoping that his friend would use his power and follow his advice, as this would keep his sanity intact at the end of the day.

'Humph, guess you're right' the kanohi glowed softly and then became dark and grey once Iden became a spirit, {'See ya later'}.

Shinji sighed in relief as the talkative kanohi left; if he had stayed…Shinji didn't want to think about what Iden would have done or the trouble he would have caused.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

As Shinji sat in his desk, he observed the students that clambered into class, some looked at him with confusion, others had other things on their minds and paid no attention to him, but one student caught his eye, it was the blue haired girl he had seen at NERV. She was still in bandages and had a patch over her one eye, but she looked a lot healthier than she had been three weeks ago. He was thinking of approaching her and asking how she was, but the sensei had walked in and Hikari scared Shinji when she barked, 'Stand, Bow, Sit!' the sensei greeted the class and he then began his lesson.

The sensei droned on and on about Second Impact and its effect on the world, Shinji tried to listen, as some of it was new to him, but this teacher had no idea how to keep his students minds from straying.

Shinji's mind, at that point, wanted him to be back at Ga-Vetra, where Tuuran and him lived, maybe go underground and chat with Whekaru or ski with Arconn, see the stars in the clear night sky on top of Le-Vetra and have Lujaka tell him tales of the Toa Nuva or help Arconn spy on Potak and Takama, maybe not that last one, Takama would probably toss him and Arconn into Ta-Vetra's volcano (she had threatened to do so on more than one occasion).

His laptop drew him back to reality; it said he had a message. After fumbling with the controls, (it had been a long time since he had used a computer) he managed to open his message, [Are you the pilot Y/N?]. Shinji grew concerned at that, on one hand Misato had warned him not to tell his position at NERV, on the other, part of being a Toa was that one should never hide his identity as a protector.

After coming to a decision and sending his message, he was surrounded by his classmates, it reminded him of when he was swarmed by Veruks, although the gnashing teeth, claws and sharp tails were replaced with questions that pertained to Eva, who and what exactly was the enemy and if he was single. Poor Hikari did her best to calm the students down and get them back to their seats, but it looked like it would take a miracle to tear them away from the new celebrity. Strangely, the only person who did not overeact was the blue haired girl, she remained in her seat, staring out the window, lost in thought.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

{'Hide in the shadows, the organic creatures will not be able to see you'}

The dark one guided his "son", making it so that the shadows would enshroud his son and keep the organics from noticing him.

The Rahkshi did as its master commanded, somewhat reluctantly, the fleshy creatures would be a joy to slaughter, but they would have to wait until it was finished with the abomination. It slinked through the shadows hidden from their view, its red body and orange limbs shrouded in the dark shade, even though the sun was up, its masters control over shadow was incredible.

{'There it is, I sense elemental energy, although it is small, you can still follow it to the source.'}

The Rahkshi followed its master's words, it could not see this energy, but at least its master would guide it to its prey.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

{'Strange people, who would put circles on vehicles?'} mused Iden, as he floated around town, the humans inventions where oddly alien to him, even though he was in a way bonded to one of them, their strange ways still confused him, then again Shinji was mostly raised on Vetra Nui and by the time they met, Shinji had lived there for almost…8 years, such a short time ago to him, although humans did not live anywhere near the age that matoran could live to.

{'I wonder if there is time for me to have a look around Vetra Nui.'}Thought the incorporeal being {'best not, rather see if Shinji is finished with his…school thing.'} Iden then made his way back towards the Tokyo-3 High School, unaware that he was leading a dangerous creature to his friend.

Back at the school, Hikari had managed to get the class back under control and away from Shinji. Now alone, Shinji had time to berate himself for telling the entire class about his pilot status (albeit unintentionally) and he also grew worried at the fact that a tall, jock like boy in his class had been eyeing him, and not in a nice way.

The bell rang for break time, Shinji thanked the Lord for that and made his way to the roof of the school, luckily getting away from the jock who had attempted to follow him.

The door to the roof was unlocked, so Shinji had no trouble getting there. When he was out in fresh air, he retrieved his mask from his bag, it was still greyed out and dull, which meant Iden was still doing his roundabout. Shinji decided to just start eating and wait for his friend to return. Shinji was almost finished with his first sandwich when his mask regained its colour, 'Ah! That was fun!' exclaimed the recently returned Iden.

'So, what have you been up to?' asked Shinji.

'Musing over the strange things you humans do, by the way why do you have circles on vehicles, I forgot to ask that the last time.'

'They're called wheels, humans don't use legs or hovering…stuff for transport' Shinji answered.

'Okay, well…whatever, I was…DUCK!' the kanohi warned Shinji, when he noticed twin orange beams heading for him.

Shinji rolled out the way and grabbed Iden as he did this, spinning around to face the thing that had attempted to burn him. Shinji and Iden gasped at their attacker, it was a Rahkshi, one of the creatures that the Toa Nuva had gone up against, one the creatures that Lujaka fought off during his early days (he had been a Toa a whole hundred years before the other five and 180 years before Shinji), the advantages that those Toa had was the fact that they had unique weapons and armour, neither of which Shinji and Iden possessed.

This Rahkshi had red torso armour and orange limbs, its weapon was a staff that had two blades on the ends, and it had gleaming yellow eyes.

The Rahkshi roared, its face splitting apart and exposing the kraata, it leapt at its prey trying to plunge its spear into Shinji. Shinji rolled a second time and fumbled with Iden, trying to become Inika, but he lost his hold and Iden skidded on the roof of the school, shouting unkind words along the way.

The Rahkshi's eyes became orange and glowed intensely, Shinji realised that this was its laser eyes powering up and shot his crimson lightning at it from his hands. Sent flying back and down to the ground, Shinji berated himself for letting it loose on his fellow classmates, who were on the field enjoying their break at the moment, he picked up his friend, who was still shouting out about being thrown around, and placed him onto his face, becoming a Toa once more.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

The Rahkshi used its bladed weapon to slow its descent, allowing it to land somewhat comfortably on the ground, and it was almost giddy with excitement when it saw all the screaming organics. It was about to take a break from its current objective to enjoy killing a few of the defenceless creatures, but it was struck from behind by another electrical attack.

Turning to face the annoying creature of flesh, it was confused as the thing that had attacked it was not of flesh, but of armour and appeared to be a strange Toa of sorts, meaning that it must be the abomination.

'I don't what you're doing here, but I will not let you harm these people!' the odd Toa said, its words lacked the confidence that it was trying to achieve, but it did not matter to the Rahkshi.

With another roar, it leapt at its new prey and swung its weapon, hoping to slash the Toa's torso. With a clang the Rahkshi's blade was stopped by the Inika's own weapon. The Rahkshi then used its laser eyes to burn the disgusting mask off the Toa, but the being anticipated this and moved out the way, launching another bolt of crimson energy at it.

Meanwhile, Hikari was screaming at everyone to get out of the school and to the shelters, but, as usual Kensuke and Toji stuck around, camera in hand Kensuke filmed the action and seemed unfazed by the danger he was in, and Toji was only sticking around to make sure his friend did not get himself killed.

'What are you two idiots doing? Do you want to get killed?'

'Uhh…well you see…' Toji was unable to come up with a useful excuse, while Kensuke remained glued to the incredible robots duelling on their own school field.

{'What in the name of Mata Nui is a Rahkshi doing on Earth?'} Questioned a still shocked Iden, while he did enjoy a good fight, going up against a powerful creature like a Rahkshi was were he drew the line.

'Got no idea, lets just hope we can stop it!' replied the Inika, out loud.

The Inika rushed his enemy, it was currently unleashing its beams of energy again, but Shinji had used his enhanced speed and agility that his powers granted to weave his way around them and strike the Rahkshi's staff out of its hands. With a grin (that was from both Iden and Shinji), the Inika grappled the Rahkshi's arms and let his hands channel his lightning into his enemy, who screamed in agony as it was being destroyed from the inside, but used its vision to blast Shinji square on the chest, sending him flying and he fell on his back.

With a grunt of effort, he pulled himself to his feet and stared in astonishment at the sight before him.

'What are you three doing here!' cried out the Inika.

'Well…'

'Um…'

'…I was trying to get these two idiots away from the fight!' exclaimed Hikari, who was equally astonished by the strange armoured man in front of her.

Sighing, the Inika then said, 'Well, you two should listen to the Class R…err this girl. Now hurry!'

All three nodded collectively and began to make their way to the shelters, but Kensuke stopped for a second, 'Hey, are you that Inika guy from the news?'

The hero seemed taken aback by this question, but answered the otaku, 'Yes, now go!'

Complying with the red and black hero, the trio ran to the shelters, while the Inika made his way to the recovering Rahkshi.

It screamed, filled with pain and rage at what its prey had done. Its insides felt like they were still on fire, but it would make the abomination pay. Clutching its fallen staff, the Rahkshi ran towards the Inika, roaring with rage.

The Toa collected his weapon from his back as he ran towards his enemy. Just as the two were about to collide, Shinji jumped over the Rahkshi, who had attempted to slash his legs, and drove his blade into the creatures back were the kraata lay.

The Rahkshi cried out once, and slumped to the ground, with the kraata dead, it was just a lifeless robot. Shinji panted, the fight had taken much out of him, and Iden started to go on about how amazing it was that they had both beaten a Rahkshi, by themselves no less!

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

The dark one screamed in frustration, crushing a stone wall with a clenched fist out of frustration.

'How was the organic able to defeat one of my sons? How!' growled the armoured giant, his red eyes expressing his rage.

He cried out in frustration again, this time because of the fact that it would be too difficult to send more than one of his minions over to the organics world without the other Toa discovering the army and being warned of his presence.

'There must be some way to send more over,' he reasoned, his mind then clicked on an idea, 'yes, that just might work…'

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

'…And the third child's position at the time…I see…very well' Gendo Ikari ended his conversation with the Section 2 team that where meant to be watching his son. It was interesting that some robotic creature would attack his school and the same mysterious armour clad individual, who had first appeared soon after Shinji returned from…wherever he had been, would arrive again to fight it.

Gendo still did not know what to make of the situation, this "Inika" person could bring in several unwanted variables into his plan, especially if Shinji turned out to be Inika, but he dismissed that thought, it was highly improbable that his weak son would be able to battle an otherworldly creature, even if he had not lived the life that Gendo had planned.

Gendo was interrupted by a chilling voice calling him, 'Ikari,' in Gendo's defence he did not outwardly show his uneasiness.

'Who's there?' called out the Commander.

'I am in the shadows, Ikari.'

The Commander turned and saw a pair of red eyes in the darkness, 'What do you want?'

The voice that the eyes belonged to chuckled, 'The same thing you desire, our plans to be achieved to their highest potential. It would seem we both have a similar thorn in our side, the Inika.'

'So far, he has not caused any problems in my scenario,' stated Gendo, although he was interested in what this creature would have to offer.

'Not yet, but trust me when I tell you this, the Toa are made to destroy plans, it has been this way for a millennium.'

'You would only pass this information on, if there is something you wanted, correct?'

'You are a smart…man, Ikari,' the being said, 'if you help destroy the Inika and help me at a later date, I can give you technologies from my world, and I can assure you that these technologies will be more than enough to keep that group of individuals off your back.'

Gendo's eyebrow twitched a millimetre or so, this being knew about SEELE, it knew a lot of things about himself and his scenario it seemed, 'at this later date, what do you need?'

'I will need an army, those biomechanical creations of yours are…intriguing, when you have completed your plan I would like to borrow one, this would allow me to achieve my plan, I believe you humans have a saying that goes something like this "you scratch my back, I scratch yours".'

'A fair trade,' replied Gendo, if this worked out nothing would endanger his scenario, except maybe this being, but Gendo was always weary of others and never trusted them, only used them to further his own goals (unfortunately this being was the same), 'since you know my name, I think you should reveal yours as a…sign of good faith.'

'The people from my world call me: the Makuta.' The eyes then disappeared, as if the darkness had swallowed them.

Gendo sat back in his chair; his mind was filled with thoughts of being with Yui once more…and the fact that he should get better lights in his office.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

'Wow! Can you believe that a superhero was at our school!' said an excited Kensuke, 'This has got to be the best footage I have ever gotten, I mean look at when he shoots that electricity at the…animal thing, it's amazing!'

'Yeah, he sure was…' said Hikari, still thinking of the knight in shining armour.

'Hey did you guys notice that he almost called you class rep, Hikari?' asked Toji, still unable to shake the feeling that that is what the Inika person was going to say.

'Mmmhmm' said Hikari, not actually listening, neither was Kensuke as he continued watching his "incredible" footage and was busy trying to figure out if he should sell it to a news station to make some money.

Sighing, Toji's thoughts went back to his sister, which made him remember that idiot of a pilot and then he thought of the "amazing" Inika, if he was so great, then where was he during the fight with the giant monster? Why didn't he help?

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

In the rundown parts of Tokyo-3, the Toa Inika was dragging the remains of the Rahkshi.

{'So, where you gonna keep our trophy?'}

'I already told you Iden, I am not going to keep a dead body.'

{'It's not dead its inanimate…hold on, it's a robot body basically, remember?'}

'Well, that is what Lujaka said' said Shinji, not quite sure of Iden's point, 'what's so special about that?'

{'Since I can use my own power to move my spirit out of myself, I can take over inanimate or spiritless creatures!'}

'So, you want me to keep this around so that you can use this as a body of sorts?'

{'Well, it'll be the most fun I've had in a thousand years, aside from being your kanohi and all, of course.'}

Shinji couldn't really argue with Iden, he had been trapped in a mask for more years than he could ever hope to live and Iden never did anything that would harm others, unless they deserved it of course.

'Alright, I'll keep it close to where the gate is, so that you can go to Vetra Nui quickly if you want to.'

{'Thanks, Shinji! You're a real friend you know that?'}

'Um, heh thanks' replied Shinji, he was still a bit unused to praise like that.

The Toa then came upon an abandoned warehouse and placed the body into an old wooden crate, which made it appear like a coffin. Shinji became his human self again, after removing his mask, as he was certain that Iden wanted to test his idea out as soon as possible.

Iden left the mask and entered the Rahkshi body. It took a moment but soon the possessed Rahkshi sprung to its feet, 'rrreels rreird.'

'Guess Rahkshi aren't the best talkers' said Shinji, as he watched his friend perform odd movements with his temporary body.

'Rrrho rrares rris isss rrreat!' exclaimed Iden, his new face showing a disturbing smile.

Shinji's cell phone rang, destroying the moment, 'um…Hello?'

['Shinji, where are you?']

It was Misato and she did not sound very happy.

'I'm…near the train station' he lied.

['And why, may I ask are you at the train station?']

'There…was some kind of attack at the school…so I tried to find the shelters, but…I got…lost?' he said, hoping that she would just drop the subject.

A sigh could be heard from the other end, ['do you need me to pick you up and bring you home?']

'No, thanks though Misato, I'll see you later.'

Clicking the phone off, Shinji let out the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding, 'Iden, you going to be enjoying yourself I take it?'

Iden replied with a nod and a crooked smile.

Shinji then started towards Misato's apartment, hoping to catch some sleep when he arrived.

-Chapter 3 end-

Well, that's chapter 3 done. Hope my writing is okay, but if it is not please do give some feedback.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you 1337 for your review and I promise that I will try to keep my writing as up to standard as possible. Just so you know, I am taking a small break from Evangelion Heroes: Fantastic 4 (no, I won't stop writing it), to write this story and another one, a "prologue" of sorts to this story, but can be a standalone story based on the adventures of the Toa heroes who raised Shinji.

**Chapter 4: Confrontation**

'So, is everyone at your school alright?' asked a concerned Misato.

'Yeah, the…uh, armoured guy took care of the creature' answered Shinji.

'Wow, to think having to deal with Angels is bad enough, but now robots?' Misato shook her head; Tokyo-3 was becoming more dangerous by the minute.

'Well, you have got the Eva's and the Inika person, so I guess it's all…covered' he said with a shrug, hoping to offer Misato some uplifting news, but not reveal his identity (even though he felt he should, he would be endangering his home if he did).

'I guess you're right, Shinji-kun,' she then downed another Yebisu beer and continued to wolf down the breakfast that Shinji had prepared.

Shinji looked at his guardian with disgust; he had never seen such a disturbing lack of manners, even a rabid Veruk would be disgusted by this.

Spotting the clock, he sighed when he realised he had best head to school, or else he would be late, 'Bye Misato, see you later.'

'Oh, hold on Shinji!' the major jumped to her feet and fumbled in her jacket to retrieve a card, 'can you give this to Rei, she's in your class'

Shinji took the card and (unintentionally) stared at the picture of the girl, her face was devoid of expression (almost like how he had imagined Toa Kopaka from Lujaka's stories, although she was a female human and not a biomechanical Toa of Ice), but there was something…familiar, but Shinji could not place just what was.

'Does my Shinji-kun have a little crush?' Misato asked, with a cheeky smile.

Going red, Shinji just headed for the door as fast as he could (although not suspiciously fast), 'Not now, Misato, I'm gonna be late!'

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Shinji arrived at school on time, five minutes to spare actually, so he set out to deliver the card to Rei. He looked all over the school, but he was unable to find her and the bell had just rung, signalling the start of another lecture on Second Impact, Shinji cringed at the thought of sitting there, in his desk, listening to the sensei drone on and on.

He entered his classroom, the students where already there and all were crowding over Kensuke's computer for some reason. Deciding to investigate, Shinji moved closer and was astonished to see himself (in Toa form) fighting the Rahkshi. Before he had time to think further on the number of problems the videos existence could cause, Hikari did her usual bark of orders, and the most boring class in all of Japan began.

After a minute or so, Shinji looked in the direction where Rei had sat the previous day, which he saw was empty, meaning that she was most likely absent (he hoped that it had nothing to do with yesterdays brawl, which the school seemed to have quickly dismissed as a one time thing, although the parents seemed to think differently as there were fewer children today).

He gazed at the card, as there was nothing else worthwhile to do, her face…there was something that he remembered when he saw her face, but he couldn't remember what exactly, whatever it was it caused him to feel…warm or more accurately, safe? He was interrupted from his musings by a text message; he gulped in fear as he had hoped that the students would pay more attention to his other self which he could still hide away from if he wished. Opening the message a bit easier this time, he read the message, [Parking bay, first break, be there!] Shinji couldn't help feel that the message was a threat of some kind, looking over at the only person he knew to most likely have some bone to pick with him, the jock stared him down, sighing Shinji decided it was best to face whatever the jock wanted with him, besides he was a Toa and had fought and seen things no other human had ever seen or fought before, what challenge could a simple teenager have that could overcome a Toa? He sighed again when he remembered that Iden was probably having some fun in his new body.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Fate, it seemed, was having a blast with Iden, who had ventured into Vetra-Nui in his Rahkshi body and was met with an unpleasant surprise. When he had first entered the gate, landing outside the temple (it was in the middle of the island and was in the shape of a dome, with holes that acted like windows on the top), he happened to have run into Toa Lujaka, the green and gold armoured, veteran protector of Vetra-Nui, who was not pleased to see a creature that had nearly murdered him in the past.

Luck was on poor Iden's side, as after nearly having his arm removed, Lujaka recognized the fact that the beast had not attacked him first, did not have a staff like weapon, and did not use any unique powers on him (also it begged him to please stop hitting it and explained that it was Iden).

'Apologies, Iden' said the Toa of Air, 'I am sure you…understand my concern.'

'Rro rroblem ruraka' replied Iden, who was just happy that the Air Toa had finally put his large Axe away.

'How where you able to obtain a Rahkshi body?'

Lujaka had never seen or heard of Rahkshi existing on the Earth, besides, Rahkshi could only be created by a Makuta and he was sure that the brotherhood of the Makuta had been defeated by the Toa Nuva, Mahri and Mata Nui himself, he had told the story several times to Shinji.

Iden then explained the odd attack at Shinji's school, and he himself also expressed his own fears on the fact that a Makuta would have to be involved for a Rahkshi to have been created.

'This is worrying news' said Lujaka, with his gold Miru in a thoughtful expression, 'I think it would be best if Shinji returned here for a while so that we may discuss this….issue.'

Nodding his head in agreement and saying a goodbye, the kanohi possessed Rahkshi left, quite hastily, through the gate and back to Earth.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

'Hey, new kid!' shouted a voice from afar, 'over here.'

The voice belonged to the jock, who was currently cracking his knuckles and regarding Shinji with a rage fuelled glare.

'Okay, what do you want?' asked Shinji, not too happy with this boy's expression.

Without a word of warning, the jock launched a straight punch at Shinji's face. Shinji used reflex's gained from several near death experiences to avoid the punch and several others that came after it.

'Why do you want to fight me?' asked a puzzled Shinji.

'Because you where such a clumsy imbecile in that mech of yours, that you put my sister in hospital!' growled the jock, panting a bit from having to follow the lightning fast Shinji.

Shinji's expression softened and with a small voice he said, 'then I guess I deserve a punch…'

The jock was taken back by this display of honour, but quickly granted the request, although, he did not expect his hand to hurt so much after hitting the boy, who kept his face down.

'I am sorry about your sister' said Shinji, his voice was sincere and Toji could tell that he meant his words, but decided to leave, he had got what he wanted, although it was not as fulfilling as he had hoped.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

{'What happened to your face?'} Asked Iden, who was certain that Shinji had not had the small bruise on the side of his face before he left.

'Just a…accident at school' answered Shinji, hoping that Iden would just wait until he was ready to tell him why he had the bruise.

Catching onto the tone that Shinji had used, Iden changed the subject, {'the other Toa and Turaga Ganji wish to have a meeting concerning the Rahkshi.'}

'Okay, I'll see if Misato will allow me to go, but in the meantime lets just get this card to Rei.'

Shinji continued on towards the address that he had discovered at the back of the card, but he and Iden grew concerned, as they got nearer to the Rei's address, the neighbourhood became more and more…decayed for lack of a better word. They actually passed the alleyway where they had saved that woman before.

Eventually, they found her apartment building; it was a rundown place that did not appear to be fit for living.

{'Are you sure that you read that address right?'}

Iden could not believe that a being, human or matoran, would live in this disgusting place. Shinji was thinking along the same lines, but continued on.

He reached her room number, pressing the bell button, but it made no sound, so he decided to knock instead. He received no reply, so Iden offered to sneak inside and see if she was home, Shinji shot down the idea, as he said it was an invasion of privacy, even if she couldn't see him.

{'So, we just gonna sit out here and wait for the moons to come up?'}

'Earth only has one moon, remember?' replied an agitated Shinji, who decided to just open the door and look to see if anyone was home.

What Iden and Shinji saw was even worse than outside, actually it was even worse than Misato's home had been before Shinji cleaned it. There where bloodied bandages, dirty floors, walls, clothes, it was the mess from hell, putting it simply.

{'How can anyone live in such a place?'}

Iden unconsciously repeated himself (he had said the same thing when Shinji had first entered Misato's home, although that was more as a joke, somewhat), he was more stating a fact and not actually asking.

Shinji was too stunned to answer, he just continued on, into the room and a pair of glasses caught his eye, near the end of the room on a dresser. Picking them up gently, he tried to put them on for reasons beyond him, but hearing the sound of water softly dripping behind him he turned around and was greeted with the sight of Ayanami, Rei, with a towel as her only item of clothing, said towel was hanging from her shoulders and was not covering any of the…important parts of the female anatomy.

Rei moved towards a frightened Shinji, snatching the glasses off his face and causing the poor boy to step back and trip, falling onto Rei. Luckily, Shinji had a soft object to break his fall and in his hand Shinji felt soft flesh beneath his fingers, causing him to nearly die of severe nasal blood loss. Blushing Shinji quickly leapt to his feet and helped the fallen blue haired girl to hers. Facing the other way, Shinji spouted out as many apologies as he could; having a gnawing feeling that today was his last day on earth.

Shinji stopped his apologies once he heard the door close shut, the girl had left. He had thought that the girl was most likely going to castrate and then torture him to death, but just up and leaving?

{'*Cough* shouldn't you give her the card?'} The kanohi questioned the still shocked to be alive Shinji, who immediately ran after the odd girl.

'Ayanami, wait!' he shouted, hoping that she would at least accept the card.

Catching up with blue haired girl rather easily, Shinji tried to get the girl to listen to his apologies, but she did not even acknowledge his existence.

'Look, I'm sorry about…the…you know, but Misato asked me to give you this card' said the still embarrassed boy.

Swiping the card from Shinji's hand, she continued on her way.

{'So, this is the one who taught Kopaka'}

Iden laughed at his little joke about the Toa Nuva of Ice, who was well known for his coldness.

Shinji just rolled his eyes at Iden's joke, and was going to continue telling Rei how sorry he was for what happened, but at that moment the early warning sirens began blaring.

'Pilot Ikari, we must hurry on to headquarters' the quiet girl said softly.

Shinji almost fell over when he heard the girl speak, but thankfully the sirens and her words brought him back to his senses quickly.

The two pilots rushed to NERV and made their way to their plug suits, quickly moving into the changing rooms, which was separated by a hanging curtain, and compressed their suits to become almost like a second skin on their bodies.

Shinji made his way to his entry plug, the series of incredibly boring synch tests he had after the fight with the first angel had given him enough knowledge of the base to get there quickly. Entering the plug, he listened to Misato relaying what they knew about their target.

['The Angel made an appearance just outside Tokyo-3; we will be launching you as close as we can and will guide you to the target, understood Shinji?']

'Understood' replied Shinji, gritting his teeth, he hated having to kill creatures, but the earth depended on him, 'What about Rei?'

['Unit-00 is still undergoing repairs and will not be launched; you're going to have to go solo on this Shinji.']

'Okay then, I guess' Shinji was relieved by this information, he did not want to have Rei get hurt again after being so injured recently, although he did not understand where this concern for Rei came from, he had only just met her after all.

Unit-01 was launched to street level, Misato told its pilot that the target was just a few kilometres away and he should head north, but keep an eye on his umbilical cord.

Shinji willed the Eva to dash forward, hoping to end the fight quickly.

{'How many kio away is the angel?'}

'Just take your best guess, I guess,' answered Shinji, as softly as he could, he also did not know how far the angel was in matoran distance, but decided to just run in the direction, he would meet his enemy anyway.

The Eva stopped when it saw a pink snake/slug like being with tentacles, slowly making its way to the Geo-Front.

{'Ugh, it looks way too much like a kraata for my taste.'} Said a disgusted Iden.

Shinji agreed with his mask completely, but focussed all his energies to the battle at hand instead of answering.

Shinji retrieved a gun from one of the deployed weapons rack that he was forced to memorize the location of, gripping the rifle; he took aim at the red core on top of the angels "head" and fired. The shot met the A.T. field and the gigantic round simply bounced off.

['Shinji, you will need to engage in melee combat to get close enough to neutralize the field']

{'We're better at melee anyway; leave the ranged weapons to Arconn!'}

Shinji complied with the radio's orders, retrieving the prog knife from the Eva's left shoulder pylon. Unit-01 leapt at the angel, which noticed its aggressor and lashed out with its tentacles, slashing the Eva's arm and sending a burning pain through Shinji's own arm. Fighting against the pain, Shinji willed the Eva to get close to the angel, so that he could plunge the knife into the core. The angel simply hoisted the Eva and tossed it like a rag doll away from itself.

The purple titan landed face first on the ground. Using its arms to pick itself up, Shinji stared at the most unlikely coincidence in the universe, his three classmates where, once again, right in the middle of the fight.

['What on earth are civilians doing on the battlefield? Shinji, you're gonna have to let them get into your Eva.']

The Major's words were met with much criticism from Dr. Akagi, something about mental interference. Shinji would have let the trio from his school in anyway; he would not let them get hurt, even if he had to disobey orders.

Moving the Eva's neck as close to his classmates as possible, he ejected the plug and urged them in. After telling them that they would not drown in the amber liquid, the three reluctantly got in, it was a tight squeeze, but it would have to do.

'Okay Misato they're safe, what must I do now?'

['Your Eva's umbilical cord got removed during your fight; you're going to have to return to base']

Shinji looked at the kraata like creature that was making its way towards the Geo-Front, albeit at a slow pace, and he knew he could not risk the lives of his classmates for the off chance of beating it.

'Alright.'

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

After getting the Eva returned to base through the launching tunnels, the crowded entry plug was ejected and its four occupants stumbled out, coughing up the amber liquid that had remained in their lungs.

'How do you live with this Shinji?' Hikari asked, with her face taking on a slight green colour.

'Well, I don't enjoy it, if that's what you're asking' answered the pilot.

Toji raised his eyebrows at the pilots answer, and shame washed over him when he saw the pilot was being truthful.

'Aw, man my camera is ruined!' cried the dismayed Kensuke, his now damaged camera would have most likely lost the incredible footage he had just recorded; at least he still had a few back-ups of his Inika video at home, but having recorded two fights from his idols would have made his day.

'What on earth where you three civilians doing out there?' asked an enraged Misato, she was not happy with having a whole battle being put on standby for these three.

Hikari immediately pointed her finger towards Toji and Kensuke, 'It was their fault; they both left the shelter when I told them to stay put!'

The two boys in question shrunk back at the tone and volume the Class Rep was using, they where going to be stuck on clean-up duty for a long, long time after this.

Seeing the way the two boys cringed at the sight of this girl blowing up, 'Well then, I guess you would know the best way to punish these two, right?'

'Yes, ma'am.'

'Okay, I'll leave it in your hands, Shinji we need to get you back up there to stop the angel, you ready?'

'As ready as I'll ever be.'

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

As the Eva was launched to the surface, Shinji noticed that there were several dark clouds gathering in the sky.

{'Looks like Tuuran and Lujaka are ready to lend a hand, huh?'} Said Iden, hoping to use the little folklore to inspire Shinji.

Shinji smiled at that thought, and quickly got his mind into battle mode.

The purple giant attached its umbilical cord and faced the slug-like angel that was making its way towards the base.

The Eva then ran, full speed, towards its enemy. Arming itself with the prog knife and leaping at the angel, hoping to end it quickly this time by dropping on top of the angel and stabbing the red gem on its head. The angel lashed out with its tentacles again, swatting the knife out of Shinji's hands and then encircling the Eva's purple hands.

The rain began to pour down, as the Eva struggled against the tentacles that were searing its armoured hands. The feedback was intense, Shinji was having trouble trying to figure out a way to reach the knife and stab the core.

['Shinji, you have to get back!']

'Mustn't…run…AWAY!'

As the last word left Shinji's mouth, a large bolt of crimson lightning struck the angel, which softened its hold on the Eva. The angel was struck again and again by bolts of lightning, until it let go of the titan to scream in pain. Unit-01 grabbed its fallen weapon and this time, it was not stopped when it plunged the knife into the angel.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

'Wow, can you believe that? The Inika just helped Shinji defeat the angel!' said an excited Kensuke as he watched the video feed from a tech's computer.

'We don't know if it was the Inika,' said Toji.

'Well, where else have you seen red lightning?' asked Kensuke, ecstatic that the two people he held in high regard had "teamed up", so to speak.

Gendo sat above the two conversing teens, the bespectacled one spoke the truth. It could only be the Inika that had struck the angel. That Makuta person was right; the Inika is going to cause problems with the scenario, which meant that the Commander of NERV had no choice, but to find a way to bring the Inika in, dead or alive.

Pressing a button to dial the head of Section-2, Gendo said, 'I need someone taken care of…'

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

The Makuta laughed, it had worked. The organic had decided to heed his warning; this meant a number of doors where now open to him.

He moved to another of the vats that held a sickly green liquid and pondered on what manner of creature he should present to Ikari for their next meeting; that would alleviate his problems.

-Chapter 4 end-

Okay, that's chapter 4 done. As always please leave some form of feedback for tips or story idea's or some critique (although if its bad please do it gently).


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you 1337 for your reviews to my stories and I promise that I will try to keep my writing as up to standard as possible. And thanks for all the favs guys!

**Chapter 5: Responsibilities**

After another boring synch test, Shinji exited his plug, happy to finally expel the disgusting liquid from his lungs.

'Excellent work, Shinji! Your synch ratio is at a steady 72%, keep this up and you'll be the best pilot in no time,' said Dr. Akagi, she was genuinely amazed at Shinji's progress and his battle skills and tactics.

'So can I go home now?' inquired the soon to be "top pilot".

'Almost, but I think you might want to have a look at something before you go, get cleaned up and I'll meet you outside the changing rooms.'

Shinji headed towards the changing rooms, wondering what Ritsuko wanted him to see. After having a cleansing shower, Shinji's mind wandered to his other dilemma, he still had to ask Misato for a day off to visit his home.

'Shinji,' the doctor called out, as unit-01's pilot left the changing room, 'this way.'

The two made their way to a large area, were Shinji was horrified to see the body of the fallen angel being torn apart by scientists and even his own father.

'Hey, Ritsuko, I hope you aren't doing anything with my little Shinji-kun' teased the Major as she made her towards the two.

'What are you doing to it!' Shinji shouted out.

'…excuse me?' said the Doctor, not sure what Shinji was going on about.

'This creature is dead, it has suffered enough during its life and now you all go poking and prodding its body likes its just some sort of toy?'

'Shinji, we need to understand what makes the angels work, it might not be nice, but it is necessary' said the Major, feeling a little bit of anger at Shinji caring about these monsters.

'Sometimes we have to do things in life that go against our moral code, but in the end the results outweigh the means.'

'That's not what I was taught,' Shinji replied and looking in the other direction, were his father was examining a piece of the angels flesh. Shinji looked a bit closer at his father's hands and saw that there were some horrible burns on them.

'Shinji, you okay?' asked Misato when she saw his vacant stare.

'Hmm…oh, do you know what happened to my father's hands?' asked Shinji.

Misato then told him about how during a routine test, Unit-00 went berserk and tried to kill Rei. The Commander ordered her plug to be ejected and the plug crashed to floor as the bakelite did not fill the room soon enough to cushion the plug. Rei obtained serious injuries and the Commander rushed over to her plug and opened the still superheated plug with his bare hands.

Shinji's expression softened after the story and he felt a bit…odd after hearing what his father did. If he abandoned him at a young age, was it remorse that made him rush out to save Rei, or was it something else.

These thoughts ended when Shinji saw Rei talking to the Commander. Rei appeared to be…happy and acting "normal" when she spoke to him.

Misato followed Shinji's eyes and saw what he saw. She hoped this would not cause any unnecessary tension with their piloting.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

They had both returned home and Shinji had prepared a dinner for them, but unlike Misato, who was eating like there was no tomorrow, Shinji had not touched his food.

'Misato…' Shinji began, but was still hesitant in asking his question.

'Yeah, Shinji' said the Major, her mouth still filled with food.

'Um…I was wondering, if…I could…go and see my…adoptive…family.'

'I guess I could drive you there,' she said, not knowing that taking a car was unnecessary.

'Uhh…I can get there on my own, but I would like to spend the day there…if that's alright' he added hastily.

'Well…' Misato wanted to tell Shinji that it was unlikely that he could spend the day, but after seeing the look on his face when he had seen Rei and the Commander together, she decided on an alternative, 'if you promise to keep your cell with you at all times, then it should be alright.'

'Oh…thanks Misato,' Shinji knew she was taking a big risk at letting him go and that the cell phone was to allow him, but he knew that if he was needed that the cell phone would not pick up a call if he was on Vetra Nui (it was on another world entirely), 'I'm just gonna go get some sleep.'

The Major was puzzled by his reaction to her compromise, and she was worried about him, he had not touched his food.

Shinji entered his futon and reached for his S-DAT. The small device was the something he cherished, as it held his mothers choice of music which he enjoyed and helped him sleep when he was troubled.

Unfortunately, on this night it did not help Shinji fall asleep and he was still wide awake when Iden returned to his mask, he had been leaving quite a bit ever since he had started using the Rahkshi as a body.

'Ah that was fun,' exclaimed the kanohi, 'how was your day?'

'Okay I guess…'

'Anything you want to…talk about?'

'I asked Misato if I could go back home'

'She said no?'

'She said I could go if I brought the cell phone with' noticing the way the kanohi looked at him when he mentioned the device; he added an explanation, 'the ringing thing.'

'Ah, that annoying contraption, what's wrong with having to bring it with?'

'If I'm needed the call won't go through and if they need me during an angel attack…'

'Hmm…well, if I stay here and you go to Vetra-Nui, then I would be able to quickly fly there in spirit form and tell you,' offered the kanohi.

'You would do that?' asked Shinji, amazed that he had not thought of such a simple solution.

'Of course I would, we've been through a lot together and this is a small way of…showing my appreciation.'

'Thanks Iden, I don't know what I would do without you'

'Me neither' after saying that they both shared a good laugh.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

In the morning, Shinji was up bright and early, already showered and dressed and making breakfast. He placed the food and a can of beer for Misato and had already begun to make up for skipping dinner last night.

Misato trudged into the room, looking as she usually did at this time, bedraggled, until she took a good swig of her favourite alcoholic beverage.

'Ah…now that's how you start the morning!'

'Good morning Misato' said Shinji, still stuffing food down his throat.

Misato stared at her young ward, then put her hand on his forehead, 'no fever, are you feeling alright Shinji? Because last night you weren't…'

'Yeah, sorry I was just…worried about something' he said, 'could I still go to my home? I promise that if you need me I will be there.'

'I said you could, so you can if you want,' said the Major, 'just remember to keep your cell phone with you.'

'Don't worry, I promise' he said hastily, not wanting to hang around more and resort to more lies. Grabbing his backpack, he left the apartment and made his way across town to where the gate to another world, his home, was hidden.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Shinji took a deep breath of the fresh air as he stood outside temple in the middle of the island. He smiled as he remembered the first time he had stood here.

-Flashback 10 years ago-

'Just hold my hand and you'll be okay' Tuuran told the little boy.

'Make sure she doesn't use her Pakari while you hold her hand!' warned Arconn, her brother, Shinji had been told, he was a funny older boy, who looked rather odd with white hair that had a small pony tail at the back and his long fringe was kept out of his light blue eyes by a black bandana and he seemed to have a permanent grin on his face.

'Tuuran what's a Pack airy?' asked the small boy, not understanding the joke.

'I'll tell you later,' she said, as she continued guiding him to the gate that the Olmak powered machine had created.

The three entered the gate and soon appeared outside the temple. Shinji stared in disbelief at what happened, the old building the had been walking through had disappeared, he looked behind himself and only saw a large door frame like structure with a funny looking mask at the middle of the top beam.

'How did-Gah!' Shinji shouted in fright when he saw that Arconn had disappeared and a 6'5 white and silver robot had replaced him.

'Arconn he doesn't know how we normally look, you dumb Rahi!' scolded Tuuran, bringing the frightened Shinji closer to herself.

'Oh, sorry, I forgot' he used his mask of illusion to change back into the white haired boy Shinji had met previously, 'see nothing to be frightened of.'

'How…how did you do that?' asked the amazed Shinji.

'It's just a mask I found; it's called the kanohi Mahiki, the great mask of illusions' answered the white haired teenager.

'Huh? A mask can do that?'

'Sure it can, there's a bunch of other kinds as well, here let me show you' Arconn transformed back into the robot he had been, 'It's still me, don't worry.'

The robot that claimed to be Arconn removed his mask and replaced it with another that he got from his back, 'This one is called the Hau; it protects me from any danger that I see.'

Shinji still did not understand how a mask could enable someone to change shape and size, so he looked at Tuuran with a puzzled expression, 'can you also do that?'

'Yes, but I don't want to frighten you,' said Tuuran, she knew it would take quite a bit for the small boy to adjust to their appearances.

'It's okay, I think it's cool!'

'Well, I'm not a Toa of Ice for nothing!' said Arconn, not pardoning the pun.

'A toe of ice?'

'No, a Toa also called a hero! Chosen to protect matoran from dangers and evil,' Arconn explained, he enjoyed this speech and he would have continued if Tuuran had not been there.

'Don't even start Arconn' warned Tuuran, not wanting to have to listen to his speech, once was more than enough.

'I'll tell you more later,' whispered Arconn.

'So are you a Toa of Ice too, Tuuran?'

Tuuran smiled and shook her head. She then explained that there were six basic elements on Vetra Nui, such as Ice, Water, Fire, Air, Stone and Earth and that each village was divided by the colours of their armour that represented their corresponding element.

-End Flashback-

'Hey, little brother!' exclaimed a voice, that belonged to none other than the Toa Vetra of Earth, Whekaru.

'It's good to see you again Whekaru, it's been a long time, huh' said Shinji, happy to see his 7 foot tall broad shouldered brother and greeted him with the local fist bump, but Whekaru decided on a bear hug for his little brother, '…air…'

'Hah, sorry, but it has been a while since we've seen each other. You have no idea how much work has to be done on the mines since that Veruk King came back and decided to use them as his little "castle"' Whekaru emphasized the word castle with his fingers, he had been incredibly disgusted at the King's abuse of the mines, most had been caved in, light stones destroyed and other such things that where hard to replace.

'Still? But we stopped him a year ago' Shinji said, the Veruk King had been a lot larger and more powerful than the average Veruk and Lujaka had been able to stop him in his early years as a Toa. Then the King had come back, madder and stronger than before, but with the combined might of seven Toa and a handful of brave matoran they had finally stopped him and the six "normal" Toa had used their powers to imprison him in protodermis, something that he was not going to be able to get out soon.

'Yup, well at least he won't be bothering us anymore. We'd better hurry the others are already in the temple and you know how Takama takes tardiness' they both shivered at the thought of their fiery sister's wrath.

Both made their way to the centre of the temple, and walked into the large room with a stone, circular "table" in the centre, where the five Toa and ancient Turaga had gathered.

'Ah, Toa-hero Shinji it is a happy-sight to see you again' said the slightly hunched over green Turaga, with a smile on his Akaku (minus the extra lens).

'Hello, Turaga' Shinji replied with a smile of his own, the Turaga was a very easygoing person and was proud that Tuuran and Arconn would go against the rules to help the little human, who turned out to be a Toa.

'Hey, there brother!' shouted Arconn, the Toa of Ice that acted in a completely different way to all the Ice Toa before him. Where Kopaka of Lujaka's stories had been cold and calculating, Arconn was loud, bashful and always wore a grin on his face.

Shinji greeted his brother, and then greeted his mother figure Tuuran and his quiet sister of Fire Takama, who nodded without saying a word, but she hid a small smile on her mask from view and he then greeted Potak, who was morally strong and as unmovable as his element, Stone.

Then Shinji saw the very person he saw in his mind whenever the word "hero" appeared, the gold and green Lujaka who walked into the room with a pride filled smile on his Miru when he saw his most enthusiastic listener.

'Lujaka!' Shinji said out loud.

'Hello there, little one. How is Earth?' Lujaka asked after greeting Shinji.

'Fine…I guess, but it's great to be back home after so long, well visiting at least' said Shinji sadly, he would much rather stay here than go back to the pain that being an Eva pilot brought him.

'I know life doesn't always go the way we want it to, but destiny calls on us to do things that are necessary to ensure a safer world for others and ourselves' Lujaka explained wisely.

'I guess' replied Shinji, letting the words sink in.

'Sorry to interrupt, but we do have a problem here' Takama said, going straight to the point as usual.

'Yes, the Makuta-son' stated the Turaga, with concern in his voice.

'Iden told me that you were at the "school" when it attacked you, is that correct?' Lujaka asked.

'Yes, that's right. It was during break and it just came out of nowhere and tried to kill me, me and Iden fought it off and then destroyed the kraata in its back' Shinji explained.

'Wow, you killed a Rahkshi. That's impressive!' Whekaru exclaimed. It was pretty amazing that Shinji and Iden had defeated the same type of creature that had caused trouble on their island not to long ago.

'Looks like Shinji just outdid you Lujaka' Arconn said with laugh, remembering that Lujaka had only been able to fight one off about 100 years ago or so.

'Indeed he did' Lujaka said with a prideful smile.

'Perhaps it would be best if we studied the remainder of the Rahkshi, it might hold some clues as to how it came to be' Potak suggested, always ready to analyse the situation first.

'Yes, that is a good idea, although I don't how Iden will take it' Lujaka said, he agreed with his younger brother, but he knew he would also be reluctant to give up his freedom, even temporarily, if he had been unable to move or speak for a thousand or so years.

'I'm sure Iden would understand' said Shinji, jumping to his friends defence.

'Then it's settled, Iden-kanohi will allow Potak to study-look at it' the wise Turaga said.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Meanwhile, in Tokyo-3…

{'Ah, nothing like a breath of fresh air'} the kanohi possessed robot thought. He was running through the forest on the outskirts of Tokyo-3, jumping over fallen trees, scaring the living daylights out of the animals that made their home there and thoroughly enjoying his newfound freedom.

{'Ya-HA'} He shouted in excitement as he leapt into the air and fell down into the small lake that was at the centre of the forest.

There was a loud splash as the heavy biomechanical robot crashed into the water, laughing or cackling rather, as the robot didn't have much in the way of speaking clearly.

Iden stopped "laughing" when he heard a series of explosions coming from the distance, which could only be one thing, {'Angel!'}

Swimming as fast he could, the kanohi used the robotic creature's arms to lift himself out of the water and run as fast as he could to the gate that would get him to warn Shinji.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Unit-00 was currently engaging the strange blue cube-like Angel, walking cautiously towards the strange floating being.

['Damn! Shinji's still not answering. Sorry Rei, but you will have to do this on your own'] The Major said, she was angry at Shinji for disobeying the one simple thing she had asked him, keep your cell phone on.

Rei willed her Eva to acquire a rifle from the weapons rack, and took aim at the Angel's centre. She waited patiently and just as it had slowed down, she unleashed a hail of oversized bullets at it.

She stopped when she saw that the bullets had no effect on it.

['There's massive energy build-up in the Angel! It may be a weapon of some kind!']

['Rei, get out of there!'] Screamed the Major

Rei tried to get her Eva out of the way, but the Angel released a powerful beam of energy at a searing temperature, it was so powerful that the LCL had begun to boil in the Entry Plug and Rei was screaming from the pain.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Iden's robotic form fell to the earth on Vetra Nui, panting from exhaustion; he quickly pushed aside the pain of exertion and ran into the stone temple.

'Rrrinji! Rrrinji!' shouted the kanohi.

The whole group turned to face the source of the noise. Shinji tensed and then ran towards Iden who was still coming round the corner and the two collided with each other.

'OW' Shinji cried out, clutching his throbbing head.

'RRorry, but therrres an Angel!' the kanohi explained.

'Uh, what's an "Angel"?' asked Arconn, as he and the others entered the scene.

'The enemy that Shinji is fighting on Earth, Arconn' Tuuran explained, then helped Shinji to his feet, 'you'd better get there quickly, it is most likely urgent.'

'Good luck Shinji' Lujaka said, wishing him luck.

'Make that thing understand what a Toa really is!' Whekaru said.

'Okay, thanks. Bye!' Shinji said. He and Iden then ran into the gate and being pulled towards Earth.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

'I'm here!' shouted Shinji, already in his plug suit and scared that the Angel had been causing to much damage to the city. He had already seen several buildings with holes through them.

'SHINJI, where were you!' shouted the Major, clearly unhappy to see him.

'I…I'm sorry but my cell phone…' he tried to come up with an excuse, but he couldn't think of anything right off the bat.

'Rei is now in hospital now, because you were being so selfish as to not listen to the one thing I asked you to do!' she scolded the boy, who cast his head down in shame.

Rei got hurt again, and this time it was his fault, Misato was right, he was selfish.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

After Doctor Akagi had briefed him on the experimental positron rifle, Shinji's Eva was launched just outside of the base where the Angel was busy using its beam to disintegrate the building.

['Alright, due to Rei's injuries, you're on your own on this one as well'] The Major said, still sounding angry at him.

'Then this one's for Rei' Shinji whispered, angry with himself for letting her get hurt like that. His Eva lifted the rifle in its giant hands and took aim.

['Now, Shinji remember that it will take several seconds for it to recharge if you miss, and we still don't know if it will be enough to breach the AT field, so don't miss'] Dr. Akagi warned him.

{Then lets up its charge} Shinji thought, letting his elemental energy travel to the rifle, sending its charge way over maximum

['Sempai, the rifle is getting some kind of external charge; it's almost at 200% capacity!']

['What! From where?']

The Eva then fired the rifle after the computer had locked onto its target, sending a stream of red energy right at the cube shaped angel.

The Angel stopped burning the Geo-Front and sent its own beam at Unit-01, but the overcharged positron rifle's beam was far more powerful and cut through the offending beam and completely obliterated the Angel.

*****Unity, Duty, Destiny*****

Shinji and Misato had returned to her apartment, not speaking a word to each other.

Shinji prepared dinner and then took his food to his bedroom, trying to eat something, but he couldn't stop thinking that he had failed Rei.

{'Shinji, it was my fault don't blame yourself'}

'No, it was my fault Iden' Shinji said quietly.

{'No, I was being selfish. I didn't want to leave the body unattended and I took too long getting to you and I was fooling around. If I had left the body in spirit form I would warned you far earlier and Rei wouldn't be hurt.'}

'But, it was still me who wanted to go to see the others. So I am selfish Iden, I am to blame.'

The kanohi couldn't reply to Shinji's words and just sighed. Shinji put his food on the desk next to his bed and retrieved the S-DAT that held his mothers songs, letting it try to get him to drift into sleep, but it still evaded him.

-Chapter 5 end-

Okay, that's chapter 5 done. As always please leave some form of feedback for tips or story idea's or some critique (although if its bad please do it gently).

On a side note, The Legend of Toa Lujaka is up, if you're interested in reading the "prequel" of sorts.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you 1337, god of all and Hanzo of the Salamander for the reviews you guys gave to this story. And thanks for all the favs!

This is probably the last chapter of Shinji Inika, but it is not the end of the story! It will be continued in a new story once I have finished Hardcore (about 4/5 chapters in total, chapter 2 is almost done) and for the crossover story I have already done half of the first chapter, so quite a bit of the story will most likely be complete once Hardcore is finished. Also, I have finally begun the story on Toa Lujaka if you guys want to read it.

**Chapter 6: The Dark Hunter**

'So, you need my help to stop a Toa, huh?' an arrogant voice asked the Makuta. The voice belonged to a tall and well armoured being, with black and purple armour and his arms had bohrok tool-shaped braces for added protection. His mask was a purple Kualsi with telescopic lenses on the right eye-piece and he had a wicked sword and heavy launcher attached to his back; making him appear as a very formidable person.

The Makuta sighed, he hated this being with every inch of his armour, but he needed an experienced person to eliminate the Inika and his creatures would be too young and thus, inexperienced to face him. Besides, who else was fit and experienced enough to destroy a Toa, than an ex-Toa?

'Yes, I can pay you handsomely and I know you enjoy the thrill of the hunt. I am certain you will enjoy this one, Itaar' the Makuta said.

'Well, point me in the direction and I'll have him by your feet in…how many pieces do you want him in?' the ex-Toa chuckled at his own joke.

'So long as he is dead, it doesn't matter if there is a body' Makuta explained.

'Well, that sounds easy enough. Where is he?' Itaar asked, jumping to his feet and getting ready to use his mask to teleport out the room.

'Slow yourself, Itaar. There are several things I require you to do before you reach him' the Makuta said, raising a claw to signal for the Dark Hunter to calm down.

'Alright then, name them' the Dark Hunter asked, interested in this "special" assignment.

'Now, I know you have not been on Vetra-Nui for several hundred years, so I doubt you know of the gate' the Dark Hunter looked at the Dark One with a raised eyebrow, so the Makuta continued to explain, 'I had a gate built over time that could cross-over to another world, I was hoping that I would be able to amass an army and take over the island and then spread around conquering the matoran, but as always your brethren started to appear and now one of the creatures from the other world has become one as well, so it will be difficult for me to move an army and my equipment to conquer the world.'

'Hah, one Toa can really jam your ideas that bad?' the purple-masked Hunter said, shaking his head.

'His very existence makes my plan incredibly risky, remember what happened to Teridax?' the Makuta said, not happy that this lower being would mock him.

'Guess you're right there…' Itaar said with a thoughtful expression, Teridax had been done over several times by a number of Toa and eventually killed by Mata Nui himself, or so the rumours say.

'Now then what I need you to do is destroy the gate on your way out and…'

'Whoa, hold on there! Destroy it, thought it took you a while to build?' the Dark Hunter had raised his hands in protest, had this Makuta gone mad?

'The other Toa will rebuild it for me, they care far too much about the Inika to leave him stranded and alone, especially if you where the last one to go through the gate' the Makuta said, feeling proud of his own ingenuity.

'Huh, smart plan. I like it, so I just make sure the other Toa see me go through before I destroy it and then I hunt down the Inika and kill him, that it?'

'Yes' the Shadowed One answered simply.

'Sounds like fun…' Itaar said with a maniacal grin growing on his mask.

*[Unity, Duty, Destiny]*

Outside the temple on the island of Vetra-Nui, a day later…

'So, think our human brother's doing alright?' Arconn asked his sister, Tuuran as they exited the temple. They had both grown weary of waiting for Potak's report on the Rahkshi body that Iden and Shinji had destroyed and had decided a walk in fresh air would do them good.

'I hope so; he has already been through so much. Isn't it unfair for him to have to be protector of two whole worlds?' Tuuran asked her icy brother, feeling worried about the boy she had practically raised, he was always so kind and caring, he didn't deserve the burden of being a Toa.

'Hey,' Arconn put a hand on his sister's shoulder, 'don't worry 'bout him, he can handle himself, plus he's got a really talkative kanohi watching him.'

'I suppose so…' Tuuran said, cracking a small smile and having a faraway look in her eyes as she thought back on those years that she had kept Shinji and watched him grow.

'Wow, that was beautiful...and nauseating' an arrogant voice said from behind them.

Both Toa spun around and saw a Toa in purple and black armour, with a smug expression.

'Who are you?' Arconn asked in astonishment, there had been no other Toa on their island for a long, long time, so his question was one that he wanted answered quickly.

'Itaar, one of the best Dark Hunter's out there, at your service and guess who I've been hired to kill? No, not you two, you're little Inika friend!' the being vanished from sight, he had obviously just used his Kualsi.

'Oh, Mata Nui' Tuuran whispered, both her and Arconn drawing their weapons and dashed around the corner, hoping to find the Dark Hunter.

Holding her staff at the ready, the axe on top and the hook at the end; just waiting to rip the armour off the monster that would dare threaten to hurt her little Shinji.

'I'll find him' Arconn said, clutching his heavy Kanoka launcher and he willed his mask to shift to his Akaku and he began using the X-ray vision it granted to search for the elusive Dark Hunter.

A shrill whistle was heard, 'over here!'

Both Toa faced the direction of the whistler and saw the Dark Hunter standing outside the gate, laughing.

Tuuran used her hand to will water out of the river that stood in front of the temple, the water streamed towards the purple ex-Toa, who raised his hand at the water. The water splashed on the ground, too heavy to be lifted up.

'Sorry to just up and go, but I got a freak to kill' Itaar leapt back into the gate, as he went through he used his elemental power of gravity to crush the gate, breaking it and making it unable to channel the Olmak's power.

Tuuran dropped to her knees, sick with fear at the horrible creature Shinji would be left to face, all on his own.

'Don't worry sister; Whekaru and Potak will have this back up and running in no-time' Arconn said, trying to reassure his sister…and himself.

*[Unity, Duty, Destiny]*

Shinji sat in his desk, a dark mood taking hold of him. He had been so selfish, now Rei was injured and it was his fault. Why couldn't he do things right? He didn't deserve to be a Toa, why did the Great Spirit choose him, he was nobody. He wasn't a hero like Lujaka or Matoro, or any of the others. He was just a little boy who happened to be taken in by someone.

The bell rang, and Shinji robotically got up from his desk, grabbing his stuff and packing his bag. Now he had to face the awkward silence at home again…no, not home. It was Misato's home, her apartment. It wasn't his home, his home was far away and he couldn't go back home until Earth was safe.

'Hey, Shinji, can we talk to you for a moment?' a soft voice asked the moody boy.

Shinji turned to see the class representative, Toji (the jock who had hit him) and Kensuke, the fan of both of his identities.

'Yes?' Shinji asked the trio.

'Toji would like to say something' Hikari said, giving the jock a small shove to face Shinji.

'Look, Ikari…I…I'm sorry 'bout the way I acted, you didn't deserve that and…well, you saved us from the angel and it wasn't you who hurt my sister, I should've been watching her and…I'm sorry' Toji said.

'I was only doing my duty' Shinji said simply, feeling his spirits lifting a bit.

'Yeah, well, you owe me a hit in the face for being a dumb jock so, go for it' Toji said, beckoning Shinji to hit him.

'No, thanks, it is unnecessary' Shinji said.

'Well, then you owe my sister a visit; 'cos she would like to meet you, she's kinda a fan of yours' Toji said, hoping the boy would take his offer.

'We were going down there now, so you can just follow us, if you want to Shinji' Hikari said, hoping he would come with.

'…okay' Shinji said, a small smile appearing as his day started to look a lot brighter.

*[Unity, Duty, Destiny]*

Toji's sister, Akira, was an energetic 10 year old, it turned out. She wouldn't stop asking Shinji about the Evangelion and what it was like to have the world on his shoulders. Shinji beamed all throughout her questions and his answers, wondering if this was how he had acted when he was little and curious about the older Toa Lujaka's adventures. He said goodbye to Akira and was happy to hear that she would be fully recovered from her injuries in a few weeks.

The other three had got on well with Shinji, and all decided to grab something to eat at a fast food store, and Hikari and Kensuke were surprised that Shinji's appetite rivalled Toji's.

The four wondered around the mall for a bit, before coming to a stop and taking a seat at the bench in front of a fountain.

It was nearing nightfall and they all had to go their separate ways soon.

'Hey, thanks guys, this was really nice of you' Shinji said, happy to have gained some friends in his original world.

'Don't mention it Shinji' Hikari said softly, smiling at the happy expression Shinji wore.

'Yeah, no problem man' Kensuke said, adjusting his glasses, 'oh, by the way, what do you think of the Inika?'

'Oh, come on Ken, we don't need to hear about the Inika again!' Toji groaned holding his face, Kensuke and Hikari had been going on and on about the damn person ever since he saved the school.

'And just what's wrong with the Inika, Suzuhara!' Hikari said, defending the brave hero who she admittedly had a small crush on.

'Nothing, but you AND Kensuke are talking about him so much that I'm starting to worry about the two of you' Toji said with a chuckle.

The two teens in question glared at the jock with narrowed eyes.

'Well, I think he is just doing what he sees as necessary' Shinji said simply, which was true as a Toa was meant to protect those in danger, no matter who they were.

'Yup, like a real hero, no need for glory, just doing what's right because it is right' Hikari added, her mind thinking back to the brave hero.

The four continued trading on what they thought on the mysterious hero, unaware that in the darkness, on top of the mall the heavily armoured Dark Hunter, Itaar, sat there, his mask's lenses focussing on the young organics. How strange that the Great Spirit would deem a non-matoran to be a Toa, perhaps he could have some fun discovering the Inika's identity.

His mouth curled into a cruel smile as he remembered how easy it was to draw out Toa, just cause enough chaos, hurt enough matoran and they would leap into action and basically walk right to their own deaths.

'Here's one for you little fleshies!' Itaar joked, raising his launcher and aiming at the fountain, killing organics would drag him out, but causing property damage on a large scale and leaving the organics alive would draw him out even faster.

His mask lenses targeted the fountain, when the reticule aligned itself perfectly; he fired a Kanoka disk at it.

The fleshlings screamed and ran like lost Rahi after the fountain exploded, moving towards exits and bashing into one another as they tried to get away. Itaar just laughed at their pathetic actions.

*[Unity, Duty, Destiny]*

Shinji and the others hit the ground after the fountain exploded from behind them. Shinji looked at the others, and breathed a sigh of relief that they were alright, then his eyes widened when he saw the projectile that had hit the fountain.

A kanoka disk? What was that doing on Earth?

Shinji looked all around to see what creature from Vetra-Nui was here and his mouth dropped open when he saw a purple and black armoured Toa, slowly descend to the ground, as if gravity was nothing to him.

'Yes, run you filthy Rahi! Run! Scream, call out for the Inika, I would love to kill him!' the being that wore Toa-like armour said, laughing as he shot a few stores and batted a few running humans out of his way.

Shinji snarled at this creature's arrogance, his blood boiled. If this monster wanted to see the Inika, then Shinji was only too happy to oblige.

Shinji rushed to a men's room, ripping his bag open, he was puzzled by the fact that it was greyed out; Iden had been gone the whole day, which was odd. It didn't matter now; he had to stop the being attacking everyone.

For the umpteenth time, Shinji placed the mask onto his face, crimson lightning crackling around his body as he became the Toa Inika.

Pulling his staff out, the Inika pulled open the door and ran towards his enemy.

*[Unity, Duty, Destiny]*

Hikari groaned as she picked herself up, the world came back into focus slowly. She looked at a large being, similar to the Inika, standing just a short distance away from her, firing a strange weapon and destroying the stores in the mall. The person was shouting out for the Inika to come out.

'Hikari, come on we gotta go!' Toji had scrambled to his feet already and was at Hikari's side, helping her up and beginning to run with her and Kensuke.

Suddenly the three felt like they were made of lead, and fell down in a painful heap on the floor.

'Hold on you three, this Toa's kinda slow, gonna need a few hostages to get 'im here' the cruel being said, just after his sentence he flew sideways after a red bolt hit him, sending him crashing into a store window.

'Here I am' the Inika said, his electric blue glowing eyes narrowed in anger, 'you three run, I will deal with him.'

Toji and Hikari both nodded and grabbed Kensuke who was hoping to film the epic battle that was about to take place.

'I don't know who you are, but you just made a grave mistake' the red Toa said, walking towards his downed enemy, crimson electricity crackling around his armour. The Toa-like being that was causing the chaos shook his head and had a smirk plastered on his purple Kualsi.

'Names Itaar, Ex-Toa, now a Dark Hunter, and you my dear "brother" are fetching quite a price for a certain Makuta' the Ex-Toa proclaimed proudly.

'Ex-Toa? Why…' Shinji was unsure of what to think of this information. Why would someone be an "Ex-Toa"?

'Because being a Toa doesn't pay enough, 'sides more fun when there's less rules' Itaar drew his sword, stretching his neck joints, and getting ready for what he hoped was a fun fight.

'Being a Toa is not about money or glory, it is about your duty to protect those who need it!' the Inika said, angry that this Dark Hunter would put money before the safety of his people.

'Hey, I don't tell you how or why to do your job. Now, if you don't mind, I need to kill you' he swung his sword, which was met by Shinji's own staff with a resounding clang, and both the Toa pushed and tried to overpower the other.

The Inika soon realised that he was not as strong as his opponent, so he twirled around and sent an arc of electricity at the Dark Hunter, who simply rolled to avoid the blast and used his own elemental power on the Inika.

Shinji fell down, trying his best to keep his body up, but he suddenly felt like he was trying to lift a building off of himself.

'Wow, you're just too easy, and that really sucks, 'cos I'm gonna be stuck here for awhile! Hmm…here's an idea, I'll let you live and give you time to get a bit smarter and put up more of a fight next time, then I'll end you and drag your carcass over to the Makuta, 'kay?' Itaar said smugly, this Toa was no problem, why would the Makuta be so afraid of such a weak, inexperienced organic in Toa armour?

Shinji struggled to keep himself up, grunting from the exertion, wanting so badly to fight this cruel being, but it was foolish for him to even think about fighting back when he couldn't even pick himself up off the ground.

'I'll take that as a yes; see ya around' Itaar said, undoing his manipulation on the Inika and teleporting away.

The Inika fell to the ground, panting in pain, his muscles screaming at him. How on Earth was he supposed to stop this being? He was nothing like Lujaka or Takama or any of the others! And what did Itaar mean about being stuck here? If he got here then surely he used the gate and could just go through it again? More importantly, where was Iden?

All these questions just made Shinji realise how utterly hopeless this situation was and how his day had just got better all so that it could get even worse.

*[Unity, Duty, Destiny]*

'Can you repair it Whekaru?' asked a worried Tuuran, watching him and Potak investigate the destroyed gate.

'Yeah, but it'll take time' Whekaru said sadly, but he was glad he had kept those designs that Lujaka had given him when the gold armoured Toa had retaken the temple all those years ago.

'Don't fear sister, Iden will watch over Shinji and Whekaru and I will work for as long as it takes to get the gate working' Potak said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder, while his other hand was clenching in anger at the thought of his little brother having to face a Dark Hunter.

'Listen to Potak, besides when we get there we're gonna knock some sense into that traitor!' Whekaru declared, if one inch of Shinji was hurt, he knew he was probably going to break the code when he found this Itaar person.

'Thank you, I will leave you two to your work, but please ask if you need anything' Tuuran said sadly, walking over to the temple and looking down with sunken eyes into the running river, softly singing the lullaby she had first sung to Shinji when she had found him, alone in the train station, hoping it would bring her little Shinji good luck.

-Chapter 6 end-

Okay, that's chapter 6 done (sorry about the delay, exams and a one-shot invasion). As always a review is nice and helps me plan out the story easier and it helps me become better at writing as a whole (plus, it'll help me to fix mistakes or complaints you guys might have).


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